We've been using the evaluation board for a lot of times already. For that, we have experienced powering it up using all possible sequence we could think off. Fortunately, our board is still functioning properly. But I recommend to power up the device before introducing a clock signal to it. The device would survive in an indefinite amount of time as long the voltage supplies do not exceed the indicated values. Ensure that no high voltage artifacts are induced into the supply pins, else they can be severely damaged and reduce the lifespan of the device.